


Encounter

by wenderpul



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-10-31 09:59:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10896978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wenderpul/pseuds/wenderpul
Summary: Irene and Seulgi meet again after the incident that tore their little group apart 2 years ago. What happens when two other people who are still hurting join them in this encounter?





	1. If We Ever love Again

CHAPTER 1  
Shopping with her lovable but annoying younger sister was not something she would describe as a fun experience. They would often encounter some sorts of mishaps. Irene would prefer to quickly buy the clothes that they need and leave the mall without loitering around while Yeri would walk around and enter into what felt like almost every shops before she finally made her purchase (which more often than not, she would only wear once as the size would be too small, too big or Mr. and Mrs. Bae got a mini heart attack every time they saw her wearing her purchase). Due to these reasons, the older Bae took it upon herself to supervise her younger sister at the mall every time the younger decided to go shopping. 

They were at the mall again that day as Yeri needed a new blouse for her class visit to some museum when the younger Bae got bored by Irene's strict supervision. Yeri was pointing to all sorts of racy and suggestive clothes before Irene lost her patience and snapped at her little sister for wasting her time. This made the younger girl sulked, so she stood at a corner of the shop and looked at her phone while muttering curses at Irene under her breath. Meanwhile the grumpy Irene was focusing on scourging through the many displayed clothes to find Yeri's blouse so that they could finally leave the mall when suddenly, she heard the younger girl's voice exclaimed loudly. 

"Hey! It's Ddeulgi unnie!" Irene quickly turned to the girl's direction to find her jumping and waving towards a brunette who was making her way to them slowly, a forced polite smile plastered to her face. 

Yeri, being oblivious as she was to the sudden tension in her surrounding ran to Seulgi and hugged the latter. "Unnie! I miss you, Jwoy unnie and Seungwan unnie so much! You haven't been to our house for such a long time." Yeri whined to Seulgi while the older girl laughed and patted her head. Yeri linked her arm around Seulgi and dragged her to where Irene was. 

"Unnie! Look! I found THE bear!" Yeri exclaimed, followed by a boisterous laugh. Irene and Seulgi winced at the loudness of Yeri's voice and exchanged forced smiles to one another. Both of them had not seen each other for almost two years, and time had fare well for them. Seulgi was dressed in a long overcoat with a yellow scarf and she wore up her hair that was dyed dark brown. Her fashion screamed that autumn was in seasons.. Or she was nursing a heartache. Irene was willing to bet that the reason was more of the latter than the weather. 

Irene herself was dressed in almost similar attire. She was wearing a mustard overcoat and a red scarf. She also dyed her hair wine red a week back. Both of them were wearing dark blue inner shirts. At a glance, it was almost as if they planned to wear these similar outfits and meet each other today. However, Irene and Seulgi knew the truth. The outfits were gifts for them...given by a person who chose to not stay and leave both of them, in hope of granting them happiness. A person who did not know that her presence was an essential part to make up their happiness. 

"Hi Sseul. Long time no see. You look healthier now." True, Irene thought. Seulgi used to be so skinny and she would walk around with a frown. Now, she seemed to gain a bit of weight and the frown had been replaced with the occasional sad smiles, such as the one she was showing Irene. 

"Hi unnie. It's been like...a couple of years? I'd been busy with stuffs." Seulgi threw a weak smile. She had been recovering from past events but she knew she was not strong enough to see Irene or the others again. It was still too soon. In fact, she thought no amount of time could make her ready to see them. She was the reason everyone was in pain, and she had not forgiven herself for that. 

"Let's go shopping together unnies! Seulgi unnie, you can help me choose my blouse right? Irene unnie is hopeless when it comes to this. You were the fashionista of the group right unnie? So pleaseeee." Yeri gave Seulgi her trademark puppy eyes. Seulgi laughed a little and ruffled Yeri's hair before adding, "Sure, Yerm-ah."

Irene did not take offense at Yeri's statement. Instead she studied Seulgi and Yeri for a moment before she turned to speak to Yeri. 

"Yerim, can you walk around first to see if there's anything you like? Then you can call me and Seulgi to check it out together. I want to talk to Seulgi for a bit, it's been so long since we had seen each other. We'll go and eat sushi later, okay?" 

Yeri pouted at this but she immediately agreed. Irene rarely used her birth name and when Irene used it, that meant she was asking as her older sister, not the pushover Joohyun and Yeri respected her older sister enough to obey when Irene was using the tone. She said her goodbye to Seulgi and skipped away from the two women. Seulgi meanwhile, watched Yeri's fading figure with a sense of dread. She knew Irene Bae Joohyun would want to talk to her. She was the reason their once happy little group broke apart. Irene would lash at Seulgi now and said the things she had managed to hold in back then, back when she was still Irene's best friend. 

While Seulgi was having her inner conflicts, Irene was actually busy fighting her own demons. She missed Seulgi. She missed their little group. She missed... her. And after everything that happened, she blamed herself too. For not being decisive enough, for letting the people she loved to believe that she did not care about them enough to make them stay. And she blamed herself mostly for hurting everyone that she loved and loved her. She was lacking in so many ways when she was the eldest, the one Seulgi, Joy and Wendy would often look up to in order to get answers but her answer back then was what led them all to fall apart.

Both of them decided after an awkward discussion to sit at the open food court of the mall. A setting too intimate would force them to be too honest and the pain would be brought out to the open again. This was perfect, they could say what they needed to say and did not overthink on their words; at least not until they were back in the safety of their houses. They could just be Ddeulgi and Baechu, instead of the awkward non-friends they were right now. 

Irene ordered iced caramel chocolate with chips while Seulgi ordered iced mocha with shaved chocolates. They both sat opposite each other at a table in which the surroundings were not too crowded and started to sip on their drinks while avoiding eye contact with one another. This went on for a while before Irene finally took a deep breath, put both of her palms on the table and spoke. 

"Are you...okay Sseul? With everything?" Irene cursed herself a bit. She could have begun by talking about the weather, hers or Seulgi's job, where was she staying right now or whether she was married. Heck she could even ask about Seulgi's family who was like her own's but no, her straightforwardness led her straight to the elephant in the room. Seulgi looked shocked for a moment before she recovered and nodded. 

"I'm pretty fine now, as you can see." She let out a nervous laugh before continuing. "How about you unnie? You seem more...quiet now."

Irene pondered at that statement. She had always been quiet to others but for the kids she adored, she had been this mischievous unnie who would play pranks and said stupid stuffs. For...that person, she was this big goofball who would never shut up. Irene's heart clenched a little when she remembered the person who would be patient enough to listen to her endless rants before pretending to bite her hand playfully when she had to shut Irene up. Her heart constricted as she was assaulted by memories of the person she had loved and hurt.

"I guess growing up do this to you." Irene and Seulgi almost could not recognize Irene's voice. It was hollow and lifeless. The warmth and lilt that were always there back then were gone. 

Seulgi stared at Irene intensely before speaking. "No, it's not growing up."

"Wha-"

"Unnie, it's not growing up. It was me...my fault. I'm sorry unnie. I'm sorry. I... I was too stupid back then. I could not even differentiate a simple crush and love. It was my fault that you and..."

"Seulgi, enough. It was not you alone. I could have been more decisive. Joy could have stopped us. Wan...Wan could have chosen to stay." Irene's voice cracked when she mentioned Wendy's nickname. The girl she loved. The ONLY girl she had ever loved.

Irene closed her eyes and she felt the tears she had not shed for more than a year coming on her eyes. She cried back then, she cried for a long time. But back then, she chose to do her internship far away from home after her group fell apart, as she could not let Yeri knew what happened between them. She was not brave enough to let Yeri knew she was dating Wendy. She was not brave enough to let her younger sister knew that she was the reason Yeri would not get to see her favourite unnies again. She was not brave enough to confess to Yeri that her unnie was a selfish person. Because of these, she never cried in front of Yeri. She came back home a year ago, alone without the usual banters around her and began her work as a junior accountant for a top firm. Whenever Yeri asked about the rest of her friends, she would usually say that they grew apart because all of them were so busy when truth was, they fell apart long ago.

Irene started to cry silently and Seulgi hesitated for a few moments before moving to sit beside Irene. She took Irene in her arms and pat her back, trying to comfort the crying girl. Seulgi felt her own tears threatening to fall too but she held it in. She was actually relieved in a way; relieved that Irene trusted her enough still to speak of what she felt. This was a familiar ground. Back then, Irene would confide her every feelings to Seulgi alone before Wendy came into the picture and even after that, they still shared a special bond between them, words that are unspoken but could be understood only by them. Irene would never cry in front of a stranger, only in front of the people she trusted wholeheartedly and Seulgi had a feeling then that no matter what would be spoken after this, she and Irene would be fine.

"Sseul.. I have a question to ask you." Irene said between sobs. Seulgi stopped hugging Irene and distanced herself a bit to look at the older woman. 

"What is it?"

"Do you, well, this is awkward and I don't know how to say this without sounding weird, and I hope you don't get offended either but you know I just need to ask this and although some things are better to just be left alone but this is quite important for me, I mean, you used to, I mean, I don't, well, I.."

Seulgi laughed softly at Irene's ramble and put her own palm to close Irene's mouth, shutting the other girl from speaking. Irene's eyes went wide and she looked a bit comical. Seulgi was a bit amused and she removed her palm from Irene's mouth before flicking the elder's forehead lightly. Irene whined and rubbed the spot that was flicked by Seulgi. 

"No, Irene unnie. I no longer have a crush on you. And yes, it was just a stupid crush. Not love as I said it back then. It took me months later to find out the difference between crush and love...I was truly a dumb bear. If I realized it sooner, Seungwan would not have left us and Joy would not have been so hurt and followed her," Seulgi said her last sentence bitterly. Irene softened her looks towards Seulgi and held the younger woman's hand. 

"It's okay Sseul. I was dumb too. I was too busy trying to consider everyone's hearts; I forgot to stop and listen to mine. I should have been more decisive back then and let you down gently, because no matter how much I love you, it will always be as my little sister alongside Yeri and Joy. Yet, I stalled in making my decision, in hope that someone else would make the decision for me. Funny enough...when Wan finally did it...I started to listen to my heart that was hoarse and beaten for screaming too loud for too long, hoping to be heard." Irene was so mad when she remembered her own stupidity. She had mostly come to term with it but she could not forgive herself for ever being that indecisive about her own feelings when she knew that she had never looked at anyone the way she looked at Wendy.

"Unnie, you were trying not to hurt me and Seungwan. I know. Thank you for that. You were trying to protect us and it's not your fault. Your only fault was being so cool and pretty that the two of us fell for you.." Seulgi did not manage to finish her words when Irene shoved her lightly. 

"Stop joking around Sseul." Both of them shared light laughter before Irene continued. "But do know that I will always love you, Seulgom. Always had, always will." Irene's eyes were shining and her smile was more sincere this time.

"And I love you too, unnie." Seulgi returned the smile and squeezed Irene's hand. The moment was light and beautiful before a harsh voice disturbed them.

"Well, this had been a nice unexpected reunion and all but we gotta go now. See you later, or preferably never." Irene and Seulgi snapped their heads to look at the direction of the voice before seeing Joy who had turned away from them, dragging Wendy beside her who seemed to be in a daze. Their hands were intertwined tightly and they walked quickly, moving away from both of the sitting women.

Irene and Seulgi stood up spontaneously in shock. They had let go of each other's hands by then and realized how they must had looked like for Joy and Wendy. Irene turned to look at Seulgi and Seulgi could have sworn that in the long years she had known Irene, she had never seen the look of intense desperation that was presented in Irene's eyes now.

"Sseul, I have to... We gotta..." Seulgi did not wait until Irene finished her words. She nodded twice at Irene and pulled Irene's hand, running together to chase the duo who was trying to disappear among the crowd. Whatever happened, they would chase their second chance and not repeat the same mistake they had done back then. And this time, they would love and show the people they love how to love again.


	2. Letting Go

_A good moment that turned to a sad memory._

 

“Unnie, do you know where I feel like going these days?” Irene looked at Wendy who was using her lap as her own pillow. Her official excuse today was she wanted to read while laying down but Irene was taking up the space on the couch because she wanted to watch the TV. But they both knew Wendy loved it when Irene absent-mindedly stroked her hair and before long, she would fell asleep. This time, Wendy was a bit talkative and Irene decided to play along.

 

“Hurmm. Where, Wan-ah?” Irene was stroking her hair then and the younger girl gave a mischievous smile before answering.

 

“Your heart.” The answer made Irene scrunched up her nose and flicked Wendy’s forehead faster than anyone can say, ‘Cheesy’. Watching Wendy yelling out, “Ow! My forehead!” and rubbing the offended spot with a pout present at her face, Irene allowed herself to smile and not to coo over her cute hamster. How could she admit with her own mouth that she liked her girlfriend’s cheesiness?

 

Irene removed Wendy’s hands that was still nursing her forehead (that barely hurt, Irene knew she used little force behind her flick; and besides she was not that strong to begin with), Irene placed a soft kiss on Wendy’s forehead which made the latter grinned.

 

“I knew my pickup lines would work best on you.” Wendy looked smug and Irene almost pinched her but decided against making Whiny Wendy appeared again. Instead, she teased the girl differently.

 

“So you tried them on other people too, Wendy Son Seungwan?” Irene narrowed her eyes while looking at the girl laying her head on Irene’s lap. Wendy looked nervous and she pretended to close her eyes and acted as if she had fainted while doing absolutely nothing at the cool, air conditioned Bae’s family living room. Irene could have squealed at her cuteness at this point but she had an act to keep so she maintained her posture. She knew Wendy was peeking through her slightly open eyes to look at Irene’s reaction anyway.

 

“Seungwannnnn.” Irene drew out the last syllable of Wendy’s name but the younger girl still acted as if Irene was only talking to herself. Irene huffed at this treatment while her mind was slowly formulating a plan. She slowly moved her hand on Wendy’s stomach and tickled the girl, making the girl squirmed and laughed out loud; her façade just now disappeared as she got up and sat facing Irene.

 

A serene moment passed as Irene stopped her tickling session and Wendy stopped laughing as they stared into each other’s eyes. “Well?” Irene raised an eyebrow, waiting for Wendy to answer. Wendy looked at Irene sheepishly and answered while scratching her head.

 

“Uh, I did say it a few times to Seulgi and Joy. But see, are they people? Sseul is a bear right? And Joy is the chicken. So…” Wendy’s voice faltered with each spoken words as Irene’s glare at her gradually become scarier.

 

“SON. SEUNG. WAN.” Wendy closed her eyes at Irene’s enunciation of her name and prayed to every gods she had ever heard of to save her from Irene’s wrath. She did not even have to go through her long list as soon after, she heard the Bae’s household doorbell being rang and voices calling out her name and Irene’s.

 

Irene sighed and went to open her front door. Almost as soon as she opened it, she was ambushed by the so called ‘chicken’, ever the enthusiastic one in the group. Seulgi followed behind Joy, all the while grinning while carrying several plastic bags which carry Teorore Chicken’s logo. Wendy’s eyes lighted up when she spotted her same-aged friend and she leaped at Seulgi and hugged her. “Sseul! How long had it been since I’d last seen you!”

 

Seulgi frowned when she heard this. She was pretty sure they bumped into each other that afternoon, when they were both on their ways to class. Seulgi was about to say this when Wendy hissed in her ear. “Play along Sseul, let Joy distract Irene unnie for a while until she forgot she was supposed to be upset at me.” Seulgi laughed at this and shook her head. She then side-hugged her friend using her free arm and whispered back, “You will treat me Pringles after this, Wenderp.” Wendy nodded fiercely at this and they both chatted while pretending they did not notice Irene glaring at them from where she was standing, nodding while listening to Joy’s rant about how crowded the chicken restaurant was and how long they had to wait.

 

“Wah! All the unnies are here!” Yeri rushed in through the still opened front door with her pink backpack, looking tired but her eyes were still twinkling. The buzzing chatters that were going on stopped as all of them looked at Yeri and greeted her. Since Bae’s household was their usual hangout spot, Yeri was like a little sister to all of them.

 

“Yerim! Where did you go? This unnie bought chicken for you!” Wendy raised her brow at Joy’s statement and looked at Seulgi, who shook her head and mouthed, ‘My money’. Both of the 94-liners held their laughter and just looked at the conversation of the two youngest. They were unaware that their actions were being observed by the eldest, who had a small smile on her face while looking at her precious people.

 

“I had a study group with Saeron and some other friends just now. We had a paper to finish before the end of the month.” Yeri happily supplied the answer and Joy laughed at this. “Really? You? My evil apprentice busy discussing about a paper she has to submit a month away from now?” The others laughed at this too, except for Irene and Yeri. Yeri pouted a bit and folded her arms in front of her chest.

 

“I’ll let you know that Yeri was in the third place for her whole grade during the school’s assessment last month.” Irene said coolly and went to take the plastic bags containing chicken from Seulgi before walking to the kitchen. Wendy, Seulgi and Joy looked dumbfounded and Yeri had a satisfied smirk now. “Who’s laughing now eh?” She stated gleefully and chuckled.

 

“I, uh, I wanna go help Irene unnie to prepare the plates and all. See you girls in a bit.” Seulgi swiftly made her exit from the scene, contrasting to Joy’s fond nickname for her, Slowgi.

 

“Oh yes! I have to transfer the movie that we want to watch from Irene unnie’s laptop. I better go now or they will be done with the chicken first.” Wendy was the second one to take her leave and she ran on the stairs to go to Irene’s room at the second floor.

 

With only the two of them remaining, Joy and Yeri were intensely staring at each other. Joy squinted her eyes at the younger kid in front of her. “Yerm ah, let’s be honest, you went there because you have a crush on that kid Saeron right?” Joy whispered to the still smirking Yeri.

 

“Yeah, but the other unnies don’t have to know that.” Yeri shrugged and closed the front door of her house and Joy shook her head and looked at the youngest with twinkling eyes.

 

“I’ve raised you well indeed.”

 

* * *

 

Although Joy and Wendy had a head start, it was not long before Seulgi and Irene managed to catch up with them. The two older girls had always had better stamina than the younger ones. While the pursued girls were slowing down due to tiredness, their pursuers were going steadily and surely in their direction. When Seulgi increased her pace and caught Joy’s free hand that was not holding on to Wendy, the four of them stopped from their power-walking chase. Joy was staring daggers at Seulgi who gulped and tried to keep her calm face on. Meanwhile, Irene stared longingly at Wendy who was training her eyes towards everything else; except on the girl who used to make the rest of the world faded from her view.

 

“Hey, Sooyoungie. Hey, Wannie.” Joy wriggled her hand free from Seulgi’s grip and ignored Seulgi’s greeting. She instead glared at Irene and Seulgi back and forth.  She tightened her grip on Wendy’s hand and took a step forward as if she was trying to be Wendy’s shield subtly and this caught the attention of the two girls standing in front of them. “Hi, Seulgi, Irene unnie.” Wendy broke the tension in the air with a polite greeting of her own. She seemed to be resigned but her facial expression was unreadable. Irene noticed from the corner of her eye that Wendy was rubbing her thumb softly at the back of Joy’s palm and her heart sank a little. She had had a suspicion since she first saw them running away with hands intertwined a few minutes ago but now…

 

Joy seemed to notice that Irene was looking at their joined fingers and a smirk made way to her mouth. “Irene unnie.” She called out the attention of the eldest among them and Irene was startled when she answered. “Ye-Yes. Why, Joy?”

 

Joy slowly raised her hand that was intertwined tightly with Wendy’s. Everyone’s attention was on their hands now and Joy felt a sense of satisfaction as she looked at Irene and made her declaration,

 

“I’m dating Wendy unnie.”

 

* * *

 

 

_A sad memory that was still just sad._

 

Irene was sitting in the safety of her dark room. She was not sure how long she had been staring at the pattern of her room’s floor. But she did knew that when Seulgi stormed out of her room crying, it was approaching evening and now, it had become dark. Probably it was slightly after her usual dinner time? Her parents and Yeri were at Daegu right now, as Yeri had just finished her examinations and they felt that her little sister deserved a nice break. Irene opted on not going as she still had her university classes and she thought she could spend time longer with Wendy…but how could she do it now?

 

Not when Seulgi, her precious childhood friend walked into her house with fire in her eyes and a bold confession. Not when she stared at Seulgi, being loss at words and the younger girl brave façade fell apart and she started crying and apologizing. Not when Irene found herself moving automatically to hug the girl who confessed that she had been harbouring feelings for Irene for quite some time now, but could never really find the courage to say it. But that was Irene’s last year at uni and Seulgi thought probably it would be easier to say it then, since she did not have to see Irene as often. Seulgi rambled in between her sobs and Irene kissed her forehead, assuring her that it was fine. But they both knew it was not, not when Wendy Son had never done wrong to either of them and Seulgi was essentially betraying her friend by confessing and Irene was entertaining another girl’s confession aside from her own girlfriend.

 

So Seulgi stood up and moved away from Irene, declaring that she would see Wendy and apologized to her and before she left, she assured Irene that she would understand if Irene did not return her feelings. Irene could not even do anything. She just muttered a weak, “Sseul, I really care about you too” and watched Seulgi’s sad smile as she turned away.

 

Everything happened in a short time but Irene had never been so confused, hurt and scared. She was confused of the feelings she thought she had for Wendy and Seulgi, she was hurt that Seulgi would actually keep her own feelings for that long all by herself until she broke down the way she did and Irene was scared that from then on, their comfortable friendship would never be the same again. So she sat and stared at the floor patterns, kept on repeating these thoughts and added her own possible scenarios until she did not realize how much time had passed. Then she realized the reason she was snapped back to reality was because she heard the front door of her house was being opened by someone.

 

Irene was not surprised when Wendy popped her head through her slightly opened bedroom door. Wendy was the only one who knew her house passcode among their group of friends. Since Irene decided to keep their relationship as a secret from her own family for a while (she did not want her mum to fuss over Wendy more than she usually did, she swore sometimes her mom looked at Wendy and thought about adopting her as one of the Baes), Wendy had to sneak in and out of the Bae’s household on some weekend nights. Wendy never did understand the need for secrecy but she respected Irene’s wish. Wendy Son, the girl who would always put the priority of Irene Bae over her own.

 

Wendy walked in and took Irene in her arms. At that moment, Irene’s whole body became relaxed. She did not even know she was tensed up before. The feeling of security enveloped Irene’s whole being when she started to sob, and then softly cried in Wendy’s hug. Wendy did not say anything; she just caressed Irene’s hair lightly and tightened her hug. When Irene’s tears subsided a bit, she looked up to see Wendy’s shining eyes and noticed how worn out her girlfriend looked. She must have been in the same situation too. Wendy and Seulgi were close, being the only two same-aged friends. In fact, Irene got to know Wendy through Seulgi.

 

Seulgi and Irene had been neighbours before Seulgi’s family moved to the other part of the town. It was not that far and they could still visit each other easily. In one of Seulgi’s visit to her old neighbourhood, they got to meet Joy Park Sooyoung, a cheery and mischievous girl who lived a few houses away from the Bae’s household. Yeri met her as a senior at school and was in awe with Joy, despite their age difference and Joy was happy enough to befriend anyone due to her devil may care attitude. That was the main contributor on why she became a lot closer to Irene and Seulgi. Wendy was the last one to join the group, being a transfer student from Canada in Seulgi’s school. Seulgi was in her final year of high school then and Irene was in her sophomore year at university when Wendy came shyly to their lives, being introduced by Seulgi who was proud to have a friend who knew how to speak English fluently.

 

That was how it started. With myriad of colours and laughter that were as bright as the seasons…before winter came and never leave their lives.

 

Irene looked back at those days with a bittersweet feeling. She thought of herself as an idiot for only having her eyes on Wendy since she first walked in through her front door as the shy blonde she was back then, for using her minutes and hours on memorizing the miracle that was Wendy Son, for noticing the blushes that Wendy had whenever she looked at Irene and for realizing what Joy subtle smiles hinted when she looked at Seulgi. She thought she noticed everything. Probably she did, except for the biggest secret of the person she dared to admit to the world as her own best friend. Irene was lost in thoughts so she did not realize the voice that was gently calling her name.

 

“-nie. Irene unnie.” Irene noticed she was still staring at Wendy and she dropped her stares to the floor, again. Wendy sighed and started to speak. “Seulgi came to see me just now and…we…talked.” Irene was not sure what the pauses in Wendy’s sentence indicated. She could not picture Wendy and Seulgi arguing and shouting at each other like the cliché scenes in dramas. They were both too kind hearted for that. So she looked at Wendy’s face, waiting for further explanations.

 

“She-she told me about… _that._ She was crying just now so I did not press her to talk more.” Another pause before Wendy continued. Wendy looked so hesitant and uncomfortable; Irene just wanted to hug and cuddle her and pretended that day never happened. “She did mention she came to see you though.” Irene had uneasy feelings in her stomach. Wendy would want to hear about her sides of the story first, getting all the facts before she did any moves. Irene wanted to move from the floor to her own bed but Wendy being Wendy, she cupped Irene’s face using both palms, knowing that the older girl would try to avoid confrontations such as this.

 

“Unnie, I just want to know, what do you think of this whole situation?” Wendy fixed her eyes steadily on Irene’s but Irene could notice the slight quivers of her lips and the uneven breathing that was not that obvious. She hated that she knew Wendy well enough like this to know when the girl was not fine.

 

“Wan-ah, I need time to think more about this whole situation. I mean, it was just this evening she came to my house and told me that she…she li-likes me. She had been my childhood friend for so long, Seungwan. I cannot just turn her down like that.” Irene voiced out her thoughts as Wendy lowered her hands and let out frustrated laugh.

 

“Unnie, I am your girlfriend you know?”

 

“Seungwan, I do. Believe me, I do. But see, Seulgi was there long before you, Wan-ah. And it’s not easy to just reject her and continue us. Please, work with me here. I don’t even know what I am supposed to do or say now. I love you, and I love her too. I cannot lose her too. And there’s Joy to consider. God, the kid is hiding it well but she has the hugest crush on Seulgi and…” Irene ranted, relieving the burdens off her chest and mind. She did not realize that with every words, she was unintentionally hurting Wendy.

 

“Hyun-ah, is it too much to choose me over Seulgi? Can you not lose Seulgi that much?” Wendy sounded as if she was almost pleading to Irene at this point. Irene was taken aback by Wendy’s question and her tone. She was also using the nickname that Irene loved so much, but she rarely used when calling Irene.

 

“W…Wannie…I cannot do this now.” Irene was frustrated by the whole situation. She could not lose either of them, her girlfriend or her best friend. Wendy stared at Irene for a few moments before nodding her head and started to stand up.

 

“Seungwan! Are-are you gonna leave me here?” An irrational fear crept into Irene’s heart but she was calmed when Wendy shook her head.

 

“I want you to eat alright? Then get cleaned up and go to bed. I’ll stay with you tonight. But I need to call Joy and talk to her before going to bed. I think Seulgi went to see her too.” Of course, Joy. The thought that Seulgi had probably went to see Joy escaped Irene’s thoughts and she nodded numbly, feeling guilty she did not think of checking on Joy.

 

Wendy went out of the house to speak to Joy while Irene ate and cleaned up before preparing to sleep. Wendy spoke for a long time with Joy and when she came back, Irene was already laying down on the bed. Wendy moved closer to Irene and laid beside her, pulling Irene’s blanket over them. She then hugged Irene tightly and sang a lullaby Irene did not quite recognize due to her drowsiness.

 

**_Holding on to you_  
Will do you no good  
I know, so I struggle to get you out  
The times we had together, our dear memories  
I let go, let go, let go  
So you can smile someday…**

 

Irene fell asleep to Wendy’s soft voice and woke up to an empty spot beside her. She was still sleepy but she saw a note was plastered to her table lamp and she blinked a few times, trying to clear the sleep out of her eyes. When she finally read the note, her eyes turned wide and she immediately jumped out of bed and rushed out of her room.

 

_‘Irene unnie, I’m sorry I have to tell you like this. I’m going back to Canada and Joy is coming with me. Don’t bother to try and look for us. Smile again unnie, you don’t have to choose now. I’ve made the choice for you.’_


End file.
